Metro News & Reviews

Board reaffirms support for high-speed rail route through Antelope Valley

With no discussion, a motion officially supporting an Antelope Valley route for California’s high-speed rail route was unanimously approved by the Metro Board today.

The motion was by Member Mike Antonovich, who pointed out that many residents who voted for the high-speed rail bond in 2008 believed the route would go through the Antelope Valley and have a station in Palmdale.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority that is planning the project recently started to re-study an alternative route along the 5 freeway that would bypass the Antelope Valley.

That was the last major item heard by the Board, which has now moved into the closed session part of its meeting today.

There was no news. There was a very brief oral presentation by Metro staff outlining what is on the agenda. There was also a very brief Board discussion between Members Mark Ridley-Thomas and Diane DuBois about “local hiring” and exactly that the means — is it hyper-local or more countywide? Nothing was settled and I expect many of the details about Crenshaw construction will be hammered out in the coming weeks.

I want to choose Antelope Valley routing because of routing possibilities to Las Vegas, not to mention the many people that live there. However I do feel the money could be better spent elsewhere. The project really has to do two things 1) Start Construction now! 2) Show that it is trying to save money wherever it can.

I really want this project to survive, it has many much needed jobs, and will be an amazing asset for our state for generations to come.

It seems to me that the chief use of our first HSR line should be to connect LA and the Bay Area in as efficient a manner as possible. A route along the 5 is the best way to do that. Antelope Valley riders could be served almost as well by a spur line from Santa Clarita to Lancaster, with timed transfers in Santa Clarita. This spur could eventually expand into a LA-Vegas line.

Whatever route the High Speed Rail Authority chooses I would hope that they could coordinate with Amtrak California and have the San Joaquins use the tracks while the line gets electrified. It would be nice to have rail alternative to busing to the Bay Area that does not take 10+ hours like the Coast Starlight currently does.

[…] to proceed with planning for a route through the Antelope Valley with a station in Palmdale, reports the Source. The CHSRA is also currently exploring a more direct path between southern and northern California, […]